towell miter part VI: infills and edge treatment

Before I pein the shell of the miter, there are a few more things that need to be done. The first is to fit the front and rear infill blocks, which are much simpler to refine to shape before the sole and sidewalls are joined.

I’ve covered most of what I have to offer on shaping the infill blocks in a previous entry, so I’m not going to go into much detail here, other offering a small point regarding the pitch of the infill bed – ideally this should be an exact match for the pitch of the metal ramp it’s going to meet. In practice, though, it is vital to understand the tolerances for ‘exact’ in this application. In short, if the infill bedding angle is even a tiny bid lower than the ramp’s, the plane will work poorly if at all; A slightly higher pitch on the wooden bed, however, is not only acceptable, it’s even advantageous. In this situation, there will be a very slight gap under the blade at the junction of metal and wood, with the blade very solidly seated at the top of the bed and the mouth. This way, when the wedge is set, the blade will be very tightly ‘sprung’ in place, with extremely good registration at the mouth — which is by far the most critical point. I shoot for a very slightly steeper bed than ramp angle – and by slightly, I mean 15-30 minutes (1/4 -1/2 of a degree).

One feature of the Towell plane that I really like is the shape of the front infill escapement. It rises from the plane’s throat in a gentle ogee, which is fairly common, but just below the top there is a single bead which forms a perfect surface for your thumb in use.

Here are the infill sections after sanding (no escaping abrasives in planemaking, unfortunately) and the first coat of french polish.

The other operation I need to address before peining is the final finishing of the front and rear sections of the plane, which will be much much harder to work on once the plane is assembled. I flatten and sand the front plate and rear curvature at this point, proceeding through 320 grit.

I also cut the front and rear sole radii, and finish the front and rear top surfaces as well ‘. The sides of the plane will be lapped and cleaned up after peining the shell and pinning the infills in place. I also take the opportunity to draw file and sand the subtle radius along the top edge of the plane.

Here’s the shell, ready for peining:

And with the infills in place:

Finally, I shape and grind the blade blank to get a better picture of the final appearance.

From here, there is nothing left to do but continue building french polish on the infills and get ready to pein the shell.